Gani: Story of the elephant and seven blind men•Day he fell into soak-away pit•We jokedand womanized together –Alex Akinyele

Perhaps, the only thing left to add to the unfolding story of Gani is that the life of the gadfly tells the story of the elephant and the seven blind men. He meant different things to people.

Or what else is there to say or write about the life of Chief Abdul-Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, who joined his ancestors on Saturday, September 5 after a protracted battle with lung cancer? To successive governments and leaders in Nigeria, the Ondo State-born legal luminary was a thorn in the flesh. For those in the legal profession, he was an institution.

The cream of the human rights community in Nigeria and beyond sees him as a colleague and unrepentant social crusader for equal rights and justice. In the late legal icon, the masses had a dependable and consistent ally.

Gani, until his death, remained “the voice of the voiceless.” Across the nation, he touched lives through his philanthropic activities. Indeed, the qualities that stood him out are endless.
According to his first wife, Ganiat Fawehinmi, the late human rights crusader had told his family that he wanted a befitting burial where the poor would be properly represented and well treated.
“On his death bed, my husband said Nigerians should continue to fight for human rights and not relax from where he stopped.”

He was also quoted as saying that they should continue from where he stopped until Nigeria was free of human rights abuses.
In the course of his struggle, he was subjected by successive governments to traumatic travails and persecutions, including series of detentions in several prisons across Nigeria, notably in Ikoyi, Kaduna, Gombe, Gashua, Kuje and Bauchi.

But critical observers are not carried away by the celebration of his life. The question begging for answers is: what are the lessons to learn from the life and times of Gani Fawehinmi? Sunday Sun brings you the untold intimate stories, the uncommon attributes of the icon as related by some of his associates.

HE FELL INSIDE SOAK-AWAY PIT BUT REFUSED TO GO HOME AND CHANGE…HE WAS SMELLING - Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, president, Campaign for Democracy
During the commemoration of the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, he was sick and he could not come out but he insisted that we should include him in the programme. He said that he was ready to speak from his bed. In one of our struggles, many human rights activists including Wole Soyinka were there. Gani almost fell into a soakaway pit and his agbada was soiled. We told him to go home and clean up but he refused and insisted that he must be part of the struggle that day. He was even smelling but he refused to go. He had an uncommon courage. School children were laughing and pouring ‘pure’ water on him.
When my father died, I did not tell him but he heard about it. When he called me, he broke down asking me why I did not tell him. He issued a cheque for N60,000 as his contribution towards the burial of my father. He was fearless and had an uncommon courage. He was like a general who does not run away no matter how fierce the battle is.

HE MADE YOUNG LAWYERS WORK UNTIL HE SAW VEINS IN YOUR NECK - Festus Keyamo, lawyer and human rights activist
As a young lawyer then, working with Gani was a hell of an experience. Each day brought its challenges. He was a workaholic and everybody knew him by that. He drove us to our limits and he would not pity you until he saw veins in your neck. But the training we received was good for anybody who wanted to be successful in life. He made sure you read a lot because he emphasised research so much. He did not rely on your head but on your ability to research.

THE DAY SECURITY MEN CAME FOR ME, HE PROMISED TO SEND ME TOOTHPASTE AND BRUSH - Richard Akinola, lawyer
I remember when the security agents came for me, he just looked at me and said, ‘well, it is your turn. Bye bye.’ He asked me, ‘do you have your toothpaste and brush? If you don’t have, I will find a way of getting them across to you.’ I believe there is no person that has suffered for the progress of this country than Gani. The day he was being taken to Gashua prison in 1990, I still have the photographs. At Gashua, he went through a lot and that is why I keep accusing General (Ibrahim) Babangida of being responsible for his ailment. His prison cell in Gashua was sprayed with insecticides regularly and I think the ailment is the cumulative effect of things sprayed inside the cell. After inhaling the insecticide, he collapsed and was rushed to the University of Maiduguri. If we tell our leaders all the time that they are right when we know that they are wrong, unconsciously we may push them into a chasm that will consume them.

WE CLASHED BEFORE OPUTA PANEL - Tony Momoh, Former Minister of Information
One thing about Gani is that he overdid most of the things he had to do. In areas of criticising governments, he overdid it but it was also for the good of the people. At the Oputa panel, he referred to me as a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC). We were friends for a long time but we clashed at the Oputa panel.
He pioneered publication of law journals in Nigeria and did it more than any other person. It was for the good of the people. You cannot actually exaggerate his praises.
He was in a sick bed for a long time but he followed developments in Nigeria and reacted to virtually every issue in the public domain. Not many people could have had such an uncommon courage. He was made a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) about 20 years after his qualification for that honour. The man is one of the most active human beings that ever lived in Nigeria.

WHEN I BECAME A LAWYER IN 1989, HE SENT ME 14 VOLUMES OF HIS LAW PUBLICATIONS - Ebenezer Babatope, former Minister of Transport
Gani was my friend for 39 years and everything people say about him is correct. I saw him four years ago when he was installed as one of the Muslim leaders in Ondo State. When I became a lawyer in 1989, he sent me 14 volumes of his law publications. The death of Gani is a mighty loss to Nigeria. A shining light has gone. He was more than a friend. Nearly all my comrades that fought the military tyranny in Nigeria in the 70s are now gone. I am simply an orphan now.

GANI DEFENDED ME FOR TWO YEARS WITHOUT COLLECTING A KOBO - Dr Fredrick Fasehun, founder, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC)
He never cared for himself whenever the struggle concerned the masses. He pursued whatever he believed in no matter the risk involved. Even if the police were shooting, brutalising people and throwing tear gas, he did not mind provided that he believed in what he was doing. He was very enigmatic and he makes sacrifices without counting his losses.
When I was put in jail by the late General Sani Abacha regime, Gani defended me for two years without collecting a kobo from me. He was in court on each occasion to defend me. How many lawyers all over the world can make such a sacrifice? Among lawyers, time is money but he did all that without demanding money from me.

HE WAS HIGH PRIEST OF THE JUSTICE TEMPLE - Frank Agbedo, Executive Director, Global Centre for Defence of Human Rights
The death of Gani dealt a devastating blow to the nation, particularly the poor masses whose lives were remarkably touched by his selfless service to humanity, using the instrumentality of the law. He bestrode our firmament like a colossus, an avatar, icon, titan, veteran, patriot, an indefatigable and irrepressible fighter for the oppressed and a rabid scourge of dictators and the rapacious pillagers of our common patrimony.
As a high priest in the temple of justice, he was a fearless intercessor and defender of the defenseless; as a crusader for social justice, he fought for an egalitarian society, where the welfare of the majority is truly entrenched as the primary purpose of government; as an activist, he was at the epicenter of every struggle for the defense of human rights, constitutionalism, substantial justice as opposed to technical justice.

WE PLANNED NUPENG ACTIVITIES TOGETHER FOR JUNE 12 - Frank Kokori, former Secretary, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)
Gani was an extraordinary person. In human rights struggle, he was always available. During the June 12 struggle in which my organisation then, NUPENG, played an active part, he was never afraid and he came around whenever we were planning for one activity or the other. People like him pass through this world once in a life time. I don’t think that in this generation, there can be anyone like him. People like Gani don’t pass here twice. He lived a successful life because he died at the age of 71 years without blemish. In a society where there is no justice and equity, the struggle which he left behind must be continued by the young generation.

GANI AND I ENJOYED JOKES AND WOMANIZING - ALEX AKINYELE, FORMER INFORMATION MINISTER
After signing the condolence register and commiserating with Gani’s family last Tuesday afternoon, a former Minister of Information, Chief Alex Akinyele, revealed what he and the legal luminary had in common.
In his characteristic style, Chief Akinyele signed the condolence register with a red pen and fondly recalled that he and Gani used to enjoy sharing jokes and having a good laughter and penchant for womanising.
Speaking to photojournalists at Gani’s Ikeja GRA home, Akinyele said: “What we had in common were jokes and womanizing. I liked beer but Gani never drank.”
The statement, expectedly, drew laughter from the paparazzi who milled around him.
One of Gani’s sons, Mohammed, also revealed that Akinyele was his father’s best-man at the wedding of Gani’s first wife. “I recognize him from the photographs in our family photo album. He was my father’s best-man when he married my mother”, he said.

GANI WAS TOO STRICT – EX-STAFF
For Nnamdi Alex Chukwu, who worked with Gani for one week and a few days as a Senior Computer Secretary, the late legal icon was very strict with his workers.
According to Chukwu, Gani paid his workers very well but he would not listen to any excuse for late coming no matter how cogent your reason could be. This aspect of Gani forced Chukwu to abandon his appointment with him within a week and some days even when he offered him a salary twice what he earned in his former place of work.

“His own system of work didn’t agree with mine. In fact, other employees I met there were equally complaining but they had nowhere to go. For me I had an alternative, so I left,” he said.
Speaking further, he said that his workers had no time to enjoy the good salary they received as they don’t go on break.
“He doubled my salary from where I was working before. In fact, that was what attracted me to the job but you don’t have time to enjoy the money. We don’t go on break. He can also come to pick you from your house on Sunday during emergency not minding that such was not part of the condition of work,” he said.
In as much as he appreciates the fact that Gani fought for the poor, Chukwu noted that his strictness was unparalleled. He gave an example of a staff that was sick and would not be allowed to go even when it was evident that he was terribly shivering.

“There was this Calabar man who suddenly took ill. He went to a nearby private hospital and when he came back he was asked to go by the supervisor. On his way out of the office complex, Gani ran into him, asked him where he was going and after listening to the man’s story, asked him for a doctor’s report. When he could not produce a doctor’s report, as he had none, Gani ordered back to work although he was shivering. The supervisor who permitted him to go was suspended for one week by Gani himself,” he added.
Although he agrees that Gani was a great man, he however noted that his strictness was what he could not understand.

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